Snap-switch.



i l I i Aw. :uzu mu r-vmcmcuwr MAKERS ANDBREAKEQS,

PATENTBD APR. 17, 1906.

. F. W. SANFORD.

SNAP SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.30. 1904.

lhventor.

Frank W.Sa Ford byM fltt'y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. SANFORD, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 3O GEN- ERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YOR SNAP-SWITCH.

Patented April 17, 1906.

Application filed September 30, 1904. Serial No. 226,608.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. SANFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates-,to cut-out devices for electric circuits, and more particularly to the type of cut-outs commonly known as sna -switches, and has for its object to provi e a compact and highly efficient device of this character which may be easily actuated to make and break the circuit by successive movements of a reciprocatin part or button.

carrying out my invention I mount upon one end of a suitable insulating-hasta rotary switch-blade and stationary contacts and arrange in line of the axis of the switchblade a push-button or other reciprocating part rovided with means which upon pressure eing applied to the button operates to put under tension a spring connected to the switch-blade and by a further movement of the button acts to release the switch-blade, so that it is free to rotate through a given angle under the recoil of the spring.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the follow ing description and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of a pendent switch embodying one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the switch with the upper part of the inclosing shell removed. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the stop-plate and actuating-spindle. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the sup ort for the switch-blade. Fig. 6 is a side e ovation of the stop-plate and switch-actuating spindle, and Fig 5. 7 and 8 are details of the pushbutton and its ratchet.

The base 1, which may be made of porcelain or other insulating material, is of globular shape with an equatorial projectlon 2, provided with shoulders, a cylindrical recess 3, and side notches 4 in its upper end, and a vertical aperture 5, extending from the center of the recess 3 to the lower end of the base. Secured to the wall 6, surrounding the cylindrical recess 3 and across side notches 4, are two stationary contacts 7, having their operative faces made cylindrical and provided at the upper edges with attaching-lugs 8, having screw-threaded holes for engaginglscrews 9, which extend vertically throu oles 10 in the base. Between the lu s8w1re-holding tongues 1 1 are bent outward y, and immediately beneath them binding-screws 12 are vided with a central aperture havingacrownbearing flange 16 extending upwardly, and adjacent the flange 16 are a plurality of segmental holes 17, separated by bridge-stops 18. Journaled in the crown-bearing flange 16 is a hollow actuating-spindle 19, having a thrust-bearing shoulder 20 near its lower end adapted to engage the lower side of the stopplate 13, and near its upper end a ring projcction 21, in which a notch 22 is cut to form an engaging shoulder for an end of a helical spring 23, which surrounds the spindle beneath the ring projection 21.

Surrounding the spindle 19 is a thimbleshaped switch-blade carrier 24, journaled at its lower end about the outside of the crownflange 16 and at its upper end about the top end of the spindle 19. The lower end of the carrier 24 is provided with a number of ratchet-teeth 25, adapted to engage the bridge portions 18 of the stop-plate, and extending vertically up one side is a slit 26, having a side notch 27 for the insertion and reception of the outwardly-bent lower end of the switch-spring 23. It will be noted that this spring 23 serves to hold the spindle 19 in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 6, and the switch-blade carrier 24 yieldingly pressed downward, with its ratchet-teeth 25 in engagement with the stop-plate. Tho switch-blade 28 consists of a phosphor-bronze punching with spring-contact arms 29 bent up at opposite ends to engage the stationary contact: 7 and is formed with a conical flange 30, adapted to be secured by solder or otherwise to the outside of the carrier 24. The means for rotating the spindle 19 to put the spring 23 under tension and to ultlmately f 200. ELECTRiwTY-"CiRCUi is i i 1M5AK6ERS AND BREAKERS, raise the carrier ,Qflfiagggf the stop-plate 13 consists of a pus -button 31 and a connected spiral actuating-rod 32, which is held from rotating while traveling through the hollow spindle. The push-button is made cylindrical and of a size to loosely fit the vertical aperture.5 in the base and has at its upper end a rectangular shouldered portion 33, which engages the inner walls of a box-sleeve 34, arranged in the upper part of the vertical aperture 5 and adapted to revent rotation of the button relative to the ase 1. The inside of the button 31 is cored out to receive at its lower end-a ratchet-block in the form of a screw with cross-slots for alternately engaging the lower end of the actuating-rod 32 and a retainin -shoulder 36, screw-threaded to the bore of the button a short distance above the ratchet-block 35 and adapted to engage a 20 projecting pin or ring 37, carried by the lower end of the actuating-rod 32, so that the latter will be retracted when the button moves outwardly under the recoil of its spring 38, arranged to abut against the up er side of the 1 shoulder 36 and the under side of the stopi plate 13. The spiral actuating-rod 32 is i made from a narrow fiat strip of steel, which I is given a longitudinal twist, as shown in Fig.

i 1, and is arranged to travel lon itudinally be- 39 tween two projections or shoulders 39, formed on the inner walls of the hollow spindle 19, so that as the rod travels longitudmally therethrough and being held from rotation by the ratchet-block 35 the spindle 19 is caused to rotate against the tension of its spring 23 until the end of the rod engages the upper inner end of the carrier 24 and raises it sufficiently to free the ratchet-teeth 25 from the stops 18, whereupon the spring recoils and moves the carrier angularly forward. In order to permit the carrier to return toward the stopplate, I provide a slot 40 in the upper end thereof, through which the end of the actnating-rod 32 may ro'ect after the carrier has moved through t e esired angle. The shoulders or projections 39 on the inner walls of the spindle 19 are conveniently formed by indentation of the metal, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The lower end of the spindle 19 is provided with two short spring-arms 41, adapted to bear upon opposite edges of the rod to produce a slight amount of friction between the actuating-rod 32 and the spindle 19, so that as the push-button 31 retracts the rod will be held up with sufficient force to move out of engagement with the ratchetblock 35, and then as the rod is retracted it is free to rotate forward sufficiently to bring its lower end into position to be engaged by the alternate slot of the ratchet-block upon the next advance of the button.

The switch is inclosed in a metallic shell having upper and lower sections 42 and 43, detachably connected by screws 44. The upper section has a hushed nozzle 45 for the passage of the conductor-cords, and the lower section has an aperture through which the push-button 31 projects.

I do not desire to restrict myself to the particular form or arrangement of parts herein described and .shown, since it is apparent that they may be changed and modified without departing from my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece, means for restraining the rotation of said pole-piece, a spring connected to said pole-piece, and reciprocatin means adapted to torsion said spring an then release the restraining means.

2. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary polepiece, means for restraining the rotation of said pole-piece, a spring connected to said pole-piece, and means movable parallel to the axis of said pole-piece and adapted to torsion said spring and then release the restraining means.

3. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece mounted upon a carrier provided with stop projections, a stationary stop-plate, a spring connected to said carrier and normally acting to force it into engagement with the stop-plate, and reciprocating means adapted to torsion said spring and then move the carrier out of engagement with the stop-plate.

4. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece, means for restraining the rotation of said pole-piece, an actuatingspindle, a spring connecting said spindle and pole-piece, and reciprocating means adapted to rotate said spindle to torsion said spring and then release the restraining means.

5. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece, a carrier therefor provided with stop projections, stationary stops adapted to engage said projections, an actuating-spindle connected to said carrier by a spring, and a reciprocating rod adapted to engage and rotate said spindle to torsion said spring and thereafter engage said carrier and move it out of engagement with said stationary stops.

6. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece, a hollow spindle connected to said pole-piece, and a spiral actuating-rod movable through said hollow spindle and adapted to engage shoulders carried thereby.

7. In an electric switch, the combination of a rotary pole-piece, a hollow spindle connected thereto a spiral actuating-rod movable through said spindle and adapted to engage shoulders carried thereby, and a nonrotatable push-button having ratchet engagement with said rod.

8. In an electric switch, the combination of stationary stops, a rotary pole-piece having a carrier adapted to engage said stationary stops, a hollow spindle connected by a spring to said carrier, and a spiral actuatingrod movable through said hollow spindle and adapted to engage a shoulder thereon to rotate the latter and then to engage the carrier and move it out of engagement with the sta tionary stops.

9. In an electric switch, the combination of a stop-plate, a pole-piece having a carrier adapted to move axially into looking engagement with said stop-plate, a hollow splndle connected to said carrier by a spring and provided with an internal shoulder, and a spiral actuating-rod adapted to move axially through said hollow spindle to rotate the latter and then engage the carrier and move it FRANK W. SANFORD.

Witnesses BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD.

I have hereunto set my 30 

